DICKSON CITY — State Attorney General Josh Shapiro on Saturday, recalling the discrimination Irish immigrants faced when they came to the United States, blasted the prejudice that exists today.
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Car insurance rates are at an all-time high nationwide and rates are rising fast in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre/Hazleton area, according to a recent study by The Zebra, a car insurance comparison marketplace.
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With the district facing a financial crisis, candidates for the Scranton School Board answered questions Tuesday night with topics ranging from nepotism and district vehicles, to bid procedures and state takeovers.

Organized by the Weston Field/Bulls Head residents group, the debate was the only one scheduled before the May 16 primary election. As actual sparring took place above the debate in the boxing ring at the Weston Field House, candidates kept verbal sparring to a minimum. Barb Marinucci, neighborhood group president, warned candidates if they fought with one another or went off topic she’d ask them to leave.

Ten candidates hope to win one of four open seats on the board. Robert Casey, Barbara Dixon, Katie Gilmartin, Mark McAndrew, Christopher Phillips, Bob Sheridan and Mike Williams will appear on both the Democratic and Republican ballots. Joseph A. Matyjevich, Chantal Rich and Robert F. Waldeck are running only on the Democratic ballot. Rich was the only candidate not at the debate. About 25 people sat in the audience Tuesday.

Many questions involved the district’s financial problems, which includes a deficit estimated at more than $33 million. Some people fear the state may eventually take control of the district.

When Phillips left the board in 2011 after one term, the district had a surplus.

“The district is on the verge of financial collapse,” said Phillips, an asset protection safety manager at a regional distribution center. “As a taxpayer, that scares me. As a parent, that frightens me. … The district has never been in worse shape.”

Sheridan, the current board president and owner of D&S Auto Sales, quickly pointed out that many of the expenses, such as pension contributions, are out of the district’s control.

“It’s been an uphill battle, but we’ve worked hard,” he said.

Dixon, a retired Scranton principal, said the district must put policies in place for long-term financial planning.

“The next board has a lot of decisions, and difficult decisions, to make us financially solvent again,” she said.

In an attempt to decrease the total number of employees, the board instituted a hiring freeze last year. Marinucci asked how candidates would justify hiring a new employee under the freeze.

McAndrew, a current board member and a culinary arts instructor at the Career Technology Center of Lackawanna County, said the district must look at what contracts and the state mandate.

“There’s a need to have and a nice to have,” he said. “We need to follow the ‘need to have.’”

Casey, an auditor and current board member, said he has fought against nepotism, including opposing the superintendent search process that resulted in the hiring of Alexis Kirijan, Ed.D.

Minority members, including Casey, alleged politics and questioned the relationship between the then-board president and new superintendent. Kirijan is Cy Douaihy’s father’s first cousin’s niece through marriage. Both Kirijan and Douaihy have said they do not consider themselves related.

“I don’t think anyone’s family should benefit,” Casey said.

Matyjevich, an information technology business partner for VaxServe/Sanofi Pasteur, said directors should only know the qualifications, and not the names of job candidates.

“I’m able to make the right and hard decisions,” he said. “I can be your voice on the board.”

Marinucci questioned why the school district has many vehicles parked at Memorial Stadium and whether the district has looked at contracting garbage pickup. She also asked that when the district bids a project, should the board “select the low bidder or the person who contributes the most?”

Waldeck, director of neuroscience at the University of Scranton, suggested the district complete a fleet management study — similar to a project he did as a student studying public administration. A study could be a project for college students, he said. He and others also said for bids, that quality is as important as the lowest price, and suggested the district come up with quality standards.

Williams, a journeyman pipefitter and a project manager for a mechanical contractor at the Social Security Administration data operations center, said the district must do a better job at managing all assets, and suggested instituting an inventory system.

“We have to do everything we can to stop the state from taking over,” he said.

For “rapid-fire yes or no questions” in which candidates were not allowed to expand on their answer, only two candidates — Dixon and Sheridan — thought the current board is transparent. Only Sheridan said concerns of taxpayers are being met, and only Sheridan said the superintendent should not be involved in contract negotiations with teachers. In December, the board banned Kirijan from sitting at the negotiation table.

Gilmartin, a partner of Scranton clothing store Nada & Co., said she would come to the board with an objective perspective. She stressed that the board must act as a team.

“Whoever is successful in their bid must work together,” she said.

Marinucci also asked whether candidates not currently on the board go to school board meetings. While a few of them had attended a meeting in the last six months, none of them attend meetings regularly. Most candidates said they watch meetings online.

Marinucci encouraged them to attend all meetings to become familiar with the issues.

Changes implemented earlier this month by the state Department of Auditor General ensure all school district audits and reviews examine school safety measures and provide findings to law enforcement officials.
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DUNMORE — An additional police officer will be present at Dunmore School District buildings until at least the end of the school year.
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